Williamson County residents will see an increase in landfill-disposal fees effective Jan. 1.

Williamson County Commissioners Court voted Dec. 4 to approve the price adjustments in accordance with the Williamson County Landfill Operation Agreement between the county and Waste Management of Texas Inc.

The disposal fee increased to $41.95 per ton from the current $40.45 per ton. In addition, all cars and pickups will be charged a flat rate of $36 per vehicle from the current $34 per load plus additional fees. The tree brush rate will increase from $6.75 per cubic yard to $7 per cubic yard if it is delivered on a trailer, and the special fund and host fund fees—some of which goes toward recreational and community facilities located near the landfill—will increase from $2.43 per ton to $2.52.

Prices were adjusted to compete with market value and remain the cheapest in the area even with the price increase, Landfill Manager Bubba Smith said.

Waste Management operates the Williamson County Landfill and Hutto Recycling Center. The recycling center will continue to accept used oil; paint; scrap metal; cardboard; newspaper and magazines; aluminum cans; plastic; batteries; light bulbs; cell phones for the Crisis Center; and electronic waste, such as computers and monitors at no charge.

In other business:

The court voted to hold a presentation and public hearing on the potential Berry Springs Park and Preserve wastewater pipeline. The city of Georgetown proposed to construct a wastewater gravity interceptor along Berry Creek from Airport Road to the Georgetown’s Pecan Branch Wastewater Treatment Plant. The path of the line would travel through the county’s Berry Springs Park. The court will hold a presentation during the Dec. 11 meeting at 10 a.m. and a public hearing Dec. 18 after 9:30 a.m.

County Judge Dan Gattis was recognized for his time spent as Williamson County Emergency Management director. County judges take on the role of director as part of their job and are responsible for calling states of emergency and flood evacuations, among other tasks. Gattis served as director during his tenure as judge from January 2007 to December 2018. Gattis plans to retire at the end of 2018 and will be replaced by county Judge-elect Bill Gravell, who was elected Nov. 6.

The court also recognized the volunteer groups that assisted with the water-distribution operations during the city of Austin water crisis, which led to a seven-day boil water notice from Oct. 22-28. Eight volunteer organizations donated 760 hours of time in which 1,250 cases of water were distributed to 350 cars. About 80,000 Williamson County residents were affected by the water outage, according to county emergency management officials.

Williamson County will begin looking into trademarking its logo. Law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC will represent the county.

Eight local organizations donated more than 700 hours of time distributing water bottles during the city of Austin water outage.

Ali Linan began covering Georgetown for Community Impact Newspaper in 2018. Her reporting focuses on education and Williamson County. Ali hails from El Paso and graduated from Syracuse University in 2017.